JAKARTA: Torrential rains pounded western Sumatra in early March, causing deadly flash floods and landslides, turning roads into murky brown rivers, houses being swept away by strong currents and bodies being dragged from the mud. Natural Disasters In Indonesia. Government officials claimed the flooding was due to heavy rains, but environmental groups cited the disaster as the latest example of deforestation and forest clearing. environmental degradation The impact of severe weather has intensified across Indonesia.
“This disaster was caused not only by extreme weather factors but also by an ecological crisis,” the Indonesia Environmental Forum, an Indonesian environmental rights group, said in a statement. “If we continue to ignore the environment, we will continue to experience ecological disaster.”
Indonesia, a vast tropical archipelago stretching across the equator, is home to the world's third-largest tropical rainforest, home to a variety of endangered wildlife and plants, including orangutans, elephants, and giant, blooming forest flowers. Some people live nowhere else.
For generations, forests have played a central role in the cultural practices of Indonesia's millions of indigenous people, while providing livelihoods, food and medicine.
Since 1950, more than 74 million hectares (285,715 square miles) of Indonesia's rainforest have been logged, burned or degraded to make way for palm oil, paper, rubber plantations, mines and other commodity development. Global Forest Watch.
Indonesia is the largest producer of palm oil, one of the largest exporters of coal, and the largest producer of paper pulp. It also exports oil and gas, rubber, tin and other resources. It also has the world's largest nickel reserves. Nickel is a key material for electric vehicles, solar panels, and other products needed for the green energy transition.
Indonesia has consistently ranked as one of the world's largest emitters of plant-warming greenhouse gases from fossil fuel combustion, deforestation and peatland fires, according to the Global Carbon Project.
It is also highly vulnerable to the following attacks: climate change impactsAccording to the World Bank, these include extreme events such as floods and droughts, long-term changes due to rising sea levels, changes in rainfall patterns, and rising temperatures. In recent decades, the country has already experienced the effects of climate change. The rainy season brought more heavy rains, landslides and floods, while the longer dry season led to more fires.
But forests can play an important role in reducing the impact of extreme weather events, said Aida Greenbury, a sustainability expert in Indonesia.
Trees and vegetation can absorb rainwater and reduce erosion, slowing flooding. During the dry season, forests release moisture, which helps mitigate the effects of drought, including fires.
But as forests shrink, so do those benefits.
A 2017 study reported that forest conversion and deforestation expose bare ground to rainfall, causing soil erosion. Frequent harvesting activities, such as those done on palm oil plantations, and the removal of above-ground vegetation further compact the soil, causing rainwater to run off the surface rather than into groundwater reservoirs. Studies show that downstream erosion increases sediment in rivers, making them shallower and increasing the risk of flooding.
After deadly floods hit Sumatra in early March, West Sumatra Governor Mahyeldi Ansharullah said there were strong signs that illegal logging was taking place around areas affected by floods and landslides. He said extreme rainfall, inadequate drainage systems and inadequate housing development contributed to the disaster.
Experts and environmentalists have pointed out that deforestation is worsening the disaster in other parts of Indonesia as well. In 2021, environmental activists blamed Kalimantan's deadly floods in part on environmental degradation caused by large-scale mining and palm oil operations. In Papua, deforestation has been partly blamed for floods and landslides that killed more than 100 people in 2019.
There were some signs of progress. In 2018, Indonesian President Joko Widodo froze new permits for palm oil plantations for three years. And government data shows the pace of deforestation slowed between 2021 and 2022.
But experts warn that deforestation in Indonesia is unlikely to stop anytime soon as the government continues to push ahead with new mining and infrastructure projects such as new nickel smelters and cement plants.
“Many land use and land-based investment permits have already been granted to companies, and many of these areas are already vulnerable to disasters,” said Arie Rompas, Indonesian forestry expert at Greenpeace.
President-elect Prabowo Subianto, who is scheduled to take office in October, has pledged to continue Ladodo's development policies, which include developing large-scale food complexes, mines and other infrastructure linked to deforestation.
Environmental watchdogs also warn that Indonesia's environmental protections are being weakened, including through the passage of a controversial omnibus law that removed forest law provisions on the minimum forest area that development projects must maintain.
“If we remove that article, it will make us very worried (about deforestation) for years to come,” Rompas said.
Experts and activists recognize that development is essential for Indonesia's economy to continue to develop, but argue that it must be done in a way that takes the environment into account and incorporates better land planning.
“We can’t continue down the same path we’ve been on,” said Greenbury, the sustainability expert. “We need to make sure that the soil, the land in the forests, does not become extinct.”
“This disaster was caused not only by extreme weather factors but also by an ecological crisis,” the Indonesia Environmental Forum, an Indonesian environmental rights group, said in a statement. “If we continue to ignore the environment, we will continue to experience ecological disaster.”
Indonesia, a vast tropical archipelago stretching across the equator, is home to the world's third-largest tropical rainforest, home to a variety of endangered wildlife and plants, including orangutans, elephants, and giant, blooming forest flowers. Some people live nowhere else.
For generations, forests have played a central role in the cultural practices of Indonesia's millions of indigenous people, while providing livelihoods, food and medicine.
Since 1950, more than 74 million hectares (285,715 square miles) of Indonesia's rainforest have been logged, burned or degraded to make way for palm oil, paper, rubber plantations, mines and other commodity development. Global Forest Watch.
Indonesia is the largest producer of palm oil, one of the largest exporters of coal, and the largest producer of paper pulp. It also exports oil and gas, rubber, tin and other resources. It also has the world's largest nickel reserves. Nickel is a key material for electric vehicles, solar panels, and other products needed for the green energy transition.
Indonesia has consistently ranked as one of the world's largest emitters of plant-warming greenhouse gases from fossil fuel combustion, deforestation and peatland fires, according to the Global Carbon Project.
It is also highly vulnerable to the following attacks: climate change impactsAccording to the World Bank, these include extreme events such as floods and droughts, long-term changes due to rising sea levels, changes in rainfall patterns, and rising temperatures. In recent decades, the country has already experienced the effects of climate change. The rainy season brought more heavy rains, landslides and floods, while the longer dry season led to more fires.
But forests can play an important role in reducing the impact of extreme weather events, said Aida Greenbury, a sustainability expert in Indonesia.
Trees and vegetation can absorb rainwater and reduce erosion, slowing flooding. During the dry season, forests release moisture, which helps mitigate the effects of drought, including fires.
But as forests shrink, so do those benefits.
A 2017 study reported that forest conversion and deforestation expose bare ground to rainfall, causing soil erosion. Frequent harvesting activities, such as those done on palm oil plantations, and the removal of above-ground vegetation further compact the soil, causing rainwater to run off the surface rather than into groundwater reservoirs. Studies show that downstream erosion increases sediment in rivers, making them shallower and increasing the risk of flooding.
After deadly floods hit Sumatra in early March, West Sumatra Governor Mahyeldi Ansharullah said there were strong signs that illegal logging was taking place around areas affected by floods and landslides. He said extreme rainfall, inadequate drainage systems and inadequate housing development contributed to the disaster.
Experts and environmentalists have pointed out that deforestation is worsening the disaster in other parts of Indonesia as well. In 2021, environmental activists blamed Kalimantan's deadly floods in part on environmental degradation caused by large-scale mining and palm oil operations. In Papua, deforestation has been partly blamed for floods and landslides that killed more than 100 people in 2019.
There were some signs of progress. In 2018, Indonesian President Joko Widodo froze new permits for palm oil plantations for three years. And government data shows the pace of deforestation slowed between 2021 and 2022.
But experts warn that deforestation in Indonesia is unlikely to stop anytime soon as the government continues to push ahead with new mining and infrastructure projects such as new nickel smelters and cement plants.
“Many land use and land-based investment permits have already been granted to companies, and many of these areas are already vulnerable to disasters,” said Arie Rompas, Indonesian forestry expert at Greenpeace.
President-elect Prabowo Subianto, who is scheduled to take office in October, has pledged to continue Ladodo's development policies, which include developing large-scale food complexes, mines and other infrastructure linked to deforestation.
Environmental watchdogs also warn that Indonesia's environmental protections are being weakened, including through the passage of a controversial omnibus law that removed forest law provisions on the minimum forest area that development projects must maintain.
“If we remove that article, it will make us very worried (about deforestation) for years to come,” Rompas said.
Experts and activists recognize that development is essential for Indonesia's economy to continue to develop, but argue that it must be done in a way that takes the environment into account and incorporates better land planning.
“We can’t continue down the same path we’ve been on,” said Greenbury, the sustainability expert. “We need to make sure that the soil, the land in the forests, does not become extinct.”